Cold Hands
by Kiddo20
Summary: A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words Series, inspired by recent weather in America. A sudden cold snap had descended upon the Continent and Shikamaru was COLD.


Disclaimer: Neither the characters nor the artwork are mine. This is purely a fan work and I am making no money off of the use of any material.

This is in honor of the recent weather in the States.

Image to be found here:

nooneym. deviantart. (com/) art/ Cold-Hands-345906191

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words: Story Six

Cold Hands

Konoha tended to have a rather temperate climate. Winters were colder than the rest of the year, but typically warmer than other places like the Hidden Cloud for example. They might get a few inches of snow over the course of the winter, and temperatures would get lower than the residents particularly liked, but rarely below the freezing point for very long.

Then there was this winter.

The temperatures had plummeted, gripping much of the continent in an icy haze. Breath froze inside of people's noses before they could blow it out. Skin stung automatically, anywhere it was exposed to the open air, and rather counter-intuitively, began to burn, becoming dry and raw and painful just steps outside the door.

Tsunade, in a fit of typical temper, had tossed the tea that Shizune had just brought her out the window and everyone watched in surprise and amusement as the liquid turned into a cloud immediately upon contact with the air.

Shikamaru had just left the Hokage's building as that happened, and had watched in mildly awed amazement as the liquid made its rapid change of state. He could already feel the cold biting into him, despite being heavily layered against it.

"Woah..." He heard someone whisper next to him, turning slightly to see none other than Naruto Uzumaki himself.

The blonde had bundled up thoroughly against the cold, wearing what seemed like multiple layers of pants given the way they puffed out away from his body. Proper boots adorned his feet, shiny with lack of use, toes fully covered – a unusual sight in their village. A think woolen black jacket wrapped around his shoulders and mid-section with a bright orange scarf wrapped around his neck and lower face, whisker marks just peaking out of the top, a matching obnoxiously colored cap mashing his hair down against his forehead, slightly covering his eyes. Thinner black gloves adorned his hands, thick enough to provide some kind of defense against the chill, but thin enough to allow for movement and manipulation of ninja tools should the need arrive.

"Naruto! What are you doing here?" Shikamaru asked, instinctively placing himself in front of Naruto in such as way as to use the blonde as a shield against the wind. "Tsunade ordered everyone to stay in their homes unless they absolutely have to go out. This cold is dangerous..."

"You forgot your scarf." Naruto interrupted, pulling the offending article from within his own coat and Shikamaru sighed in contentment as the scarf, filled with the body heat of Naruto, was wrapped around his own neck and face, providing some level of defense against the cold. His stomach churned a bit deep inside, like an engine creating a burning warmth deep within, settling at his core, surprised and pleased at the knowledge that Naruto had braved this weather for him.

"I know you were supposed to go back to your family's place tonight, but it's too far away and it's too damn cold for you to get out there." Naruto's voice was oddly authoritative, and Shikamaru in some odd fashion found himself blushing at the tone, glad for the scarf to now hide his visage from view.

Naruto pulled the taller man against his side and started leading the man away.

Naruto's original apartment had been destroyed in the 'almighty-push' that had put a bowl in the middle of Konoha. He had secured a new once since the completion of the village rebuilding effort. It was smaller but neater, Naruto not having enough to create a mess just yet. More importantly, it was closer. Just blocks away from the office of the Hokage.

Even though it was just blocks away, Shikamaru was still grateful when his eyes caught the outline of the building and he was in a hurry to get inside when they reached it. Naruto wasn't feeling the cold as bad, Shikamaru realized to his annoyed astonishment. Maybe it had something to do with the Kyuubi, or Naruto's wind nature or just a body that seemed better suited to retaining heat, but Shikamaru was shivering uncontrolably, while Naruto just focused on rubbing his cloth covered hands together, deftly handling the key and opening the door, laughing loudly as Shikamaru darted into the apartment, heading straight for the thermostat and raising the intended temperature of the room to something approaching Suna in summer, smiling when he heard the furnace kick back into gear, humming gently in the air vents.

He kicked off his shoes and prepared to dive into Naruto's bed, only to see a lack of blankets and sheets.

He actually groaned aloud, earning a laugh from Naruto who had already shed his outer clothing and stood in the kitchen filling a large kettle with water before setting it on the stove to set up.

"Blankets?!" He demanded.

"In the wash." Naruto replied a slight smirk on his face as he turned and settled against the countertop.

"But...cold."

Naruto shook his head. "Sorry, they needed to be cleaned, but just think how warm they will feel when they come out of the dryer."

Shikamaru scrunched up his face, but sighed when Naruto began to shake a bit with suppressed laughter. "I'm acting like you right now...and you're acting like me. It's weird...I don't like it." He declared before settling in a chair at the small table in the kitchen area.

Naruto came around behind him and pulled off his hat, ruffling through Shikamaru's hair a bit before pulling on the scarf. Shikamaru's hands jumped up and grabbed Naruto's wrists. "But it's cold!" He protested against their removal.

"It's wet," Naruto countered, "and you'll get warm fast with the heat blasting anyway."

Shikamaru hated with people used logic with him. Sometimes he wanted to be illogical and believed dammit. But no...Naruto went and grew up on him.

He grumbled as Naruto pulled the coat free as well, standing about in the kitchen as Naruto disappeared down the short entryway to put hand the coat on hooks by the wall.

Shikamaru rubbed his hands together and blew on them, desperate to warm them now that his big pockets had been taken away from him.

Naruto slipped back in the room, heading for the cabinets to pull down a couple of mugs.

Shikamaru smiled, a fun thought occurring to him. Naruto was always warm. Here he was, moving about the apartment as though he hadn't just been out in the bitter, bitter cold at all. Nothing shook or trembled, there were no patches of gooseflesh, the man was just totally comfortable in the room.

Shikamaru was still cold, and Naruto was warm. So logically, it would make sense for Shikamaru to seek to get a little bit of the blonde's warmth for himself.

"Hey Naruto," Shikamaru started, smirking within as Naruto began to turn around from putting tea bags into the awaiting mugs.

"Wha..." But Naruto trailed off as cool lips made contact with his own cheek that rapidly warmed with a furious flush.

Before Naruto could get his mind back, Shikamaru brought his hands up and laid them, trembling slightly, against the heated flesh.

He smiled as warmth bleed into his fingers, finally feeling normal for the first time since he had struck out from the Hokage offices to head home. The smile turned into a smirk as a shiver ran down Naruto's back.

A small scowl took over Naruto's face. "I'm not your personal heater." He grumbled, stepping away as the kettle began to shriek.

He slipped behind Naruto as the blonde turned off the stove and wrapped his long arms around Naruto's mid-section, resting his chin on Naruto's shoulder, stooping a bit to do so. "You're my boyfriend, pretty sure they are synonymous terms."

He knew Naruto rolled his eyes, as he poured water into the awaiting mugs.

Naruto stepped away and thrust a mug at Shikamaru, "Here, warm up your hands." He put his own mug on the table and stepped away again, heading towards the back reaches of the apartment. Shikamaru sat again at the table, clutching the mug with both arms, holding it just under his chin and letting the steam finish the job of warming up his face.

He closed his eyes, taking in the first sip of the warm liquid when his back and shoulders was suddenly enveloped in warmth. Naruto's perpetually tanned arms, came around his sides, bringing the edges of the freshly cleaned comforter with them.

Shikamaru, moaned in happiness. "Waaarrrmmmtthhhh."

Naruto laughed aloud once more, bring his head down and resting his forehead against the crown of Shikamaru's head.

"I'm starting to question our relationship. I think you only want me so you're not cold all the time." He said jokingly.

Shikamaru however responded with utter sincerity. "No, I want you because I can't act like this around anyone else." He's said that without thinking, but it struck him suddenly just how true it was. Naruto would never judge Shikamaru, no matter what the other man did. He accepted whatever Shikamaru gave him, glad, Shikamaru thought with a touch of sadness, that someone was showing him loving affection at all.

It also struck him just how rare it was for him to say _anything_ without thinking though it did seem to happen around Naruto quite a bit.

Shikamaru pushed himself away from the table, leaving the tea on the surface and turning quickly, grabbing one of Naruto's arms in his and tugging the man over to the bed. "We have a blanket now, and an open bed..." Naruto was tossed down onto the mattress with an expression somewhere between amused and confused. Shikamaru spread his arms, and the blanket wide, appearing almost like a child playing superhero with their friends, before flopping down on the bed as well, encompassing Naruto under the blanket as well. "Neither of us needs to be anywhere until this blasted cold spell ends, and we're going to stay right here and warm the whole damn time." He pronounced, settling himself against Naruto's side.

"If it goes on for a week?" Naruto asked, as he turned into Shikamaru, allowing them to be facing each other as take in each other's faces.

"It will be a very warm week for me." He drawled, settling down in the mattress and letting his eyes drift shut. "Thanks for coming to get me today." He whispered.

Naruto shifted and Shikamaru felt his slightly chapped lips against his exposed cheek for a moment. "Yeah well, you get cold so easy..." Naruto whispered back, wrapping and arm around Shikamaru's shoulder and pulling the other man closer, letting his own eyes drift shut and enjoying the warmth of their bed.

Note: Apparently I lied about the last one being the last one for a while. Sat down and wrote this one straight through instead.

Hope you enjoyed and please review! Thanks!


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